Another Secret Recipe Club post come and gone and another summer almost at it’s end! I can’t even believe it! Time flies when you’re havin’ fun I guess (:

This month for my SRC post I as assigned Juanita’s Cocina, a wonderfully written and designed food blog by Jen. Every blog I am assigned always has it’s difficulties due to the fact that I live a plant-based life, but that doesn’t stop me from drooling over almost all of Jen’s amazing recipes!! Why am I forced to only choose one recipe… No fair!!

In the end, I decided to go with a nice, simple bean spread with my favorite ingredient: avocado <3

Smashed White Bean and Avocado Spread

Serves 4-6

1 can great northern beans, drained

1/4 bunch green onions (about 8 stalks), diced

1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic (I used jarred)

Heaping pinch pink Himalayan sea salt

1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped

Directions:

In a medium bowl with a spoon or fork, roughly mash the beans with the green onions, garlic, and sea salt. Mash to your desired consistency. I left some of the beans whole, but feel free to mash until smooth.

Prepare the tofu by pressing gently to remove excess liquid then cut with a knife into thin shoestring fry size pieces (the thinner the tofu, the crispier the fry). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

On a plate or in a large, shallow bowl, combine the oil and both mustards. Then, in a food processor pulse together the sunflower seeds, bread, parmesan, and se salt until coarse and somewhat resembling bread crumbs. Empty out onto a plate or large, shallow bowl.

To make the tofu fries first dredge the tofu slice in the oil mixture, dredge and cover completely with the bread mixture, and then place on a nonstick cookie sheet. Continue until all the tofu is gone. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on thickness, until golden brown and crisp. Enjoy plain or with some organic ketchup (:

Like this:

It’s time again for another Recipe Redux post! This month’s theme is “Have Snacks, Will Travel.” This was the perfect theme for me this month because I took a trip from my home here in Las Vegas to my home in Boston!!

There are so many reasons why I like to bring my own snacks and/or mini meals when I travel. For one, airports are not always the most vegan friendly places. Secondly, airports are also not the most wallet friendly place to be. And lastly, of course, I just prefer to have my food. I don’t want to have to make food decisions. I want to package my favorites before I go, end of story (:

So here are some of my favorites:

1. Fruit!

The benefits of fruit, specifically when traveling: hydrating (bye-bye swollen fingers) and nutrient-dense so you’ll feel full yet light on the plane; fruit is also great because it will satisfy that sweet tooth and help you steer clear of the naughty food court for a greasy, fattening Cinnabon!

2. Vegetables!

For me I like food I can nibble on while I’m traveling. I’m not really looking to have a big meal, but you definitely could bring a salad in a bag (to take up less room), some dressing, and plastic cutlery. Just know that if you’re not in the mood for your salad within a couple hours, you may have to munch on warm, wilted lettuce ):

For this trip I brought chopped carrot sticks, but any chopped veggie would work: bell pepper, broccoli, zucchini, summer squash, celery, cucumber, etc.! All these veggies offer hydration and are nutrient dense, like fruit.

3. Protein!

If you’re trip is lengthy (mine was about 9 hours in total), you’ll need to bulk your munchies up with some hearty protein. This could mean topping your bag salad with some chickpeas, adding some nut butter to your celery, or bringing a dry serving of protein powder to add to some water (note: bring the dry powder to airports because of course no liquids through security!). But for me, I was looking for something very convenient: a protein bar.

This trip I brought along Pulsin’ brand Maple and Peanut Protein bar: 219 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 12 grams of protein. I chose a bar with a moderate amount of protein because I knew I wouldn’t be drinking as much water as I do on a normal day and I didn’t want to feel bloated from the protein or dehydrated.

4. Salty Snack!

I try to keep a good balance when traveling and try my hardest not to just munch on crap. To prevent my eyes from wandering, I like to bring a salty, crunchy snack with me as well so I don’t go spending my money on crappy snacks that will make me feel bad. One of my favorites is tortilla chips, but any salty snack you prefer.

I ate them when I was watching some Netflix during my layover in Detroit (:

5. Sweets!

Again, I try to keep that balance of healthy food while also satisfying some snack cravings, so I will bring some sweets with me to prevent myself from buying more and more in the snack shops! Any candy or cookie you like will do. I brought along some delicious vanilla macaroons!

Just remember to stayhydrated! Your brain, skin, and mood will thank you!